Category Archives: Sewing

August 17, 2010 · 2:54 pm

Buttonhole Elastic

Buttonhole Elastic

Because I’m not accomplishing much of anything today, here’s a random post on that miracle of modern children’s clothing… Buttonhole Elastic!

Now, I first met buttonhole elastic when I was pregnant with my second daughter. It featured prominently in the two pairs of maternity pants (real maternity pants! This was a Big Deal!) that I bought that pregnancy. As first impressions go, this was not a big win. The buttonhole elastic is threaded through the back of the waistband, emerging via a buttonhole somewhere around the front hip, where it attaches to a button. You can adjust which of the many buttonholes along the elastic is buttoned, and thus adjust the waistband.

Really it didn’t work so well. Partly because who really wants a bunchy, elasticized waistband at the back of their jeans, and mostly because you can make the waistband of maternity pants as adjustable as you want but when the waist is wider than the hips, the pants are still going to fall down. (I think the current trend for mat. pants is very long, wide knit panels at the top, reaching up almost to the underbust. I haven’t been pregnant in over seven years so I can’t comment on how any of these work, although it seems a lot nicer than having a jeans button poking through your shirt right at your swollen belly-button.)

But, a few years later I noticed them cropping up in the back of kids’ jeans.

Buttonhole elastic threaded through waistband

And it has found its niche!

Elasticized waistbands and kids go together at the best of times—comfort almost always trumps stylishness (for the younger set, anyway), and considering the range of widths vs. lengths in kids, as well as the rapid changes within an individual child, an adjustable waistband is a wonderfully practical idea. An additional bonus for my booty-licious older daughter is that the drawn-in waistband at the back provides better fit for her J-Lo-esque backside.

So when I first made her the Jalie Jeans, back in May, I purchased a ton of buttonhole elastic and made the buttonholes (and attached the buttons) before sewing on the waistband. Amazingly forethoughtful of me, seriously. And then she tried them on—and they fit pretty much perfectly as-is, so I never bothered installing the elastic.

Re-sized jeans!

Well, fast forward three months and, of course, jeans that were perfectly fitting in the spring are WAY too small. Fortunately, I have two daughters, so all that work is not for naught… but the seven-year-old is still a fair bit smaller.

Finally, the elastic comes into its own! These are size K jeans on a size I body (so two sizes too big)

Alright, she probably won’t be wearing them quite yet, as they are also WAY long. But if she

Rear view---elasticized waistband

wants to, she can 🙂

Now, back to tracing up the Size M pattern for the older daughter…

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August 16, 2010 · 6:33 pm

How to take cute pictures of a sucky coat

Burda Jacket... almost finished

Ok, the pictures aren’t even that cute. It’s not totally finished… not sure at this point that it will be, except for bloodymindedness and so I have something to wear during Self-Stitched September if (when) it gets too cold for my jean jacket. Note the hands on the hips in the first photo, creating the illusion of fit. Note how it’s pulled around to improve the rear fit in the second photo; this makes the front look super-doofy.

So, what are my issues?

Well, partly it’s fit. I never did get the shoulders *really* figured out. If I take them in, it’s too narrow in the

Burda jacket, back(ish) view

shoulders. If I let them out, there’s that bump that you see in the photo. And somehow when I put in the lining, the whole thing shrank (go figure :P) so that it doesn’t even overlap nicely in the front (without pulling at the shoulders). Instead of the lone visible button at the top and two hidden ones lower, I might just put in a low button, since that’s the only part that closes nicely.

And partly it’s my fabric. The jacket was designed for faux-leather, and my wool is MUCH thicker than that. I think this thickness is the main problem with the collar, which is sort of heavy and ugly without anything being obviously wrong with it.  I think someone with perfect tailoring skillz could have made a nice fitted jacket out of this wool, but I suspect that someone of my calibre should’ve stuck with something a little more basic. D’you think a sleeve-head or a shoulderpad would help?

On the up-side, the sleeve length is dead-on. And it’s super, duper warm.

Kasia skirt pattern

And, just to show that I’m truly a sucker for punishment, I printed out and assembled the Kasia skirt pattern for my next project! I’m going to grade it out from a size 36 at the hip to a size 38 at the waist and hope that gives me enough ease… I measured the pieces and according my calculations the finished size of the 36″ waistband should be 28″, which is technically the size of my waist but wouldn’t be comfortable at all. But one size up should be adequate.

Just for the record, I haven’t worn an item of clothing with a waistband at my waist, except for one Christmas skirt that fits like a dream, since I was a teenager.

Oh, and here’s a picture of the jacket before I put the sleeves on, inside-out to show all the

Interfacing

interfacing. This was all as directed by the pattern, but maybe it wasn’t such a good idea on my thick, thick wool. You can also see very clearly that rogue shoulder-seam.

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August 16, 2010 · 11:21 am

We interrupt your regularly scheduled jacket mangling…

To bring you… a tailor’s ham!

Home-made tailor's ham

Based on the Burdastyle tutorial, it is one half wool, one half cotton twill, stuffed with cotton scraps, and a bit funny-shaped and triangular, not to mention lumpy. I’m not convinced the scrap-stuffing is going to be firm enough in the long run… we’ll see. I feel like a rice or barley stuffing might be a good alternative to the sawdust I don’t have ready access too. I’m not sure what the store-bought ones are stuffed with these days (feels light and plasticky, though). However, it was a lot better to try and shape the jacket shoulders than just the edge of the regular ironing board. I’ve been meaning to make one of these for a while (basically ever since I saw the Burdastyle tutorial), as I’m too cheap to buy one. Next on the list will be a sleeve roll…

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August 16, 2010 · 7:34 am

Jacket Suckitude

The sleeves on this jacket are driving me nuts! Is it me? Is it the pattern? Is it my punishment from the fickle Sewing Gods for daring to try to make a—ulp—petite pattern?

Part of the problem comes from the shoulder seam, which runs well to the rear of my actual shoulder. Actually, the neck-side of it is perfect. But for some reason it angles backward at the outside. (I had noticed this in the muslin but thought it was due to me distributing the fullness of the sleeve cap poorly. Now I suspect that this is WHY the fullness was all concentrated to the back. Also the shoulder seemed a bit too wide, especially at the front, and I’ve now tightened the curve of the front princess seam a bit. I am dangerously close to the kind of billiard-ball alterations that turned my Lydia Disaster from a well-constructed top that didn’t happen to fit me into something suitable only for my 10-year-old’s scissors. But wool is considerably more forgiving of stitch-ripping than a cotton knit (I’ve now had sleeves basted in at least five separate times, by machine and by hand… I like by hand, it only takes about 2 snips to rip it all out). I’m hoping if I give up on the shoulder seam as a reference and mark my actual shoulder point, I’ll have some better luck. I hope so. I sure love this fabric.

Seriously, though, this is a pain. I have pretty easy-to-fit shoulders. They’re a little broad (not for this pattern though!) and square, but they’re straight and even. No forward-shoulder alterations here. And I’ve set in plenty of sleeves before, even in jackets, with none of these problems.

Man, I wish I had a dress-form.

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August 15, 2010 · 10:06 am

Fools rush in…

oops... a jacket.

Where wiser seamstresses fear to tread.

This is a jacket from my new Burda mag. This jacket, actually. Minus pockets, on account of I don’t really like patch pockets on coats and I’m too lazy to learn to do the welt pocket on the left breast right now.

Yes, THAT jacket.

Yes, I went ahead and cut it without doing a proper muslin or anything. I am not in the right headspace to be tackling this, by any means. I haven’t read up on my tailoring in a few months. I haven’t gone through my sole sewing book for whatever tips may lurk within. Most of all, I’m not feeling patient, although I am working on it.

I traced off a size 18; this is the Burda petite size equivalent to my regular size, 36. The arms of the pattern

front of lining/muslin

are long to begin with, but let’s face it, I’m no petite. I measured the pattern pieces, and my own arms (this is always touch-and-go as it varied by where the shoulder/sleeve seam falls), and added an inch for good measure. Plus a 4cm hem allowance, so really I should have plenty to play with.

I cut out the lining first and sewed it up quickly to test the fit. The bodice was surprisingly good, although I’m not quite sure there’s going to be enough overlap in the front. Odd, since that should be the one dimension it actually fits me in. Here’s a few shots of it, though they’re mostly terrible. The darts actually fall in a really good place for me (which never happens). The bodice length is awesome (Ok, an extra half-inch somewhere probably wouldn’t’ve hurt, but I like a short jacket so I’m not going to bother). The fit at the curve of my (sway) back is great, too.

Back of lining/muslin. Something is WRONG with those shoulders.

Something is WRONG with the shoulders. It’s like all the fullness is gathered behind the shoulder, pulling the shoulder-seam back and making it poufy at the back there. I think I got the easing in the right place according to the pattern, but it does not look right at all. I think it’s just a problem in how the ease is distributed, though (as opposed to how the pattern is cut.) Also, I sewed the side pieces in backwards, which may have thrown off the armscye a bit.

Don’t ever try to use your lining as a muslin. It’s way too slippery and hard to get right—and then you won’t know which fitting issues are genuine and which just come from your own screw-ups. And then you pretty much have to pull it all apart to sew the facings in anyway.

Also, Things I Learned Tracing My First Burda Magazine Pattern

  • even if you remember to leave space for the seam allowances, leave more, they are LARGER than you think.
  • try to get all the pattern markings, including the seam numbers, down when you first trace it. You WILL need this info, and going back and finding the pieces again on the pattern is a PITA.
  • However, you will miss some markings. Go back and add them as soon as you realize it.
  • Burda uses little lines instead of notches. Draw your notches in (or out 😉 ) because you will forget them, otherwise. Don’t forget to do this at the seam allowance line, not just the stitching line.
  • the information is there. It’s just not always where you think it is.
  • look up how to sew a mitred corner.

Ok the last one probably isn’t very widely applicable. That’s all the instructions say for finishing the rear vent.

Anyway, I have a bit more interfacing and a LOT more reading to do. I have a feeling there will be a fair bit of basting and fitting for this one, especially around the shoulder area. But if I end up with a nice fall-weight jacket for Self Stitched September, I’ll be swimming, right?

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August 13, 2010 · 11:09 am

My first Burda Magazine!

My First Burda (Magazine)! (I'm not manic. Really. I'm not. Ok maybe a little.)

Last night a little bird took me to a newsstand in town that actually carries BurdaStyle magazine. For the low, low price of $10 Canadian, I am now the proud owner of the August issue! (And then I got home late and had to go to bed without reading it!)

On the upside, it has lots of cute little jacket patterns that call for about 1.5 m of fabric (the same amount I have of my grey herringbone). On the downside, most of these seem to be in petite sizes. Now, I have a shortish body so I might actually be able to pull off a petite bodice (might)… but how much am I going to have to lengthen the arms? Although some of them look pretty long already…

Cute petite jacket. Are the go-go-gadget arms really long enough?

There’s also this really cute kids jacket my oldest daughter would totally rock:

Totally seeing my 10-year-old in this.

I can’t say any of the pants are especially appealing to me, although they’re probably good basics (and I am still in the market for basic patterns). There are several cute skirts, but we all know how often I wear skirts. There are a few cute tops, but a lot of them are big, floaty blousy things that look lovely on the models and I would feel like a whale in.

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August 12, 2010 · 3:11 pm

Not So Awesome

New Jalie Jeans Capris

But they’ll do.

They’re finished except for the studs (which I won’t put in this time until at least one more wash). Nothing special, but considering my spectacular fail on the pattern front, I’m not going to complain as long as they’re wearable.

I’m still having issues with the waistband gaping at the back (probably not helped at all

Rear View

by the pattern goof), so I think I’ll twiddle with the waistband pattern piece a bit. I’m a little scared of how much worse it will get after I wash them. Also I think I should go back to the original width of the waistband pattern piece (I had shaved it down about 2cm) as I think I actually like the wider waistband better. This one’s wider than my last (I used the same pattern piece but 1/4″ seam allowances instead of 1 cm), so it’s a good width, but wider would be nice, too.

One of these days I’ll do something actually interesting with

Belt loop and pocket detail... OMG is that pocket ripping?

the jeans I make. Maybe for the next black pair. I may go back and put a little slit at the seam in the outer side leg just below the knee, too, if I get ambitious. We’ll see. In the meantime—another boring, not entirely quick piece. Now to pray for good weather in September so I can actually use them for my SSS wardrobe.

Front Fly---good installation, less good topstitching.

OMFG, the back pocket’s ripping loose! Did I remember to tie those topstitching strings or did I… just… cut them. Yup, I think I just cut them. *facepalm*

There’s the fly, which is my first actual proper fly installation. The topstitching’s not so good. I think my buttonholes are getting a wee bit better, although still nothing like the amazing tailored ones I see pictures of. Also a cute 10-year-old invaded the picture.

Well, for my first finished project in two weeks, I’m not going to complain. Any more.

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August 11, 2010 · 6:30 pm

I F#%@ed up

Adjustment intended to raise the centre back of my jeans.

So after the last time I made up the Jalie Jeans, I decided the back really was too low and that I should raise it. So I took my pattern and slashed and pivoted to raise one side.

Observe, please, my adjustment.

Those of you who are keener observers than I will realize that the side I expanded is the side seam, not the centre back seam. Therefore it does nothing to the centre back, and plenty to throw off the side seam. Aren’t I brilliant?

I think I’ll be able to make it work by shaving off the top of the yoke, but man… I am severely choked with myself.

On the other hand, by following Debbie Cook’s tutorial step-by-step, I managed to install my first “perfect” fly. I really don’t do well with video tutorials like the Sandra Betzina one, oddly. I think I find it harder to keep my place in the process, or I miss steps as my mind wanders.

Redemption is a perfect fly?

Unfortunately it’s adorned by some of my least-perfect top-stitching, but ah well.

chalk-transferred pattern

I rather like my pocket design. I don’t have any real transfer paper, so I improvised with sidewalk chalk on a sheet of regular paper. It was rather messy, but worked well enough for my simple pattern, and it seems to have all come out. I also experimented with one of my few fancy stitches.

Embroidered pockets---fancy stitch!

I really like this denim, though—it’s both heavy and stretchy and soft, a good combination, I think. Now if only I hadn’t f#$%ed it up!

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August 11, 2010 · 7:20 am

Girl Wonders

Another pair of capris

Well, I did no sewing yesterday, but I did manage to get another pair of capri jeans cut out. (I only had 1.1m of fabric, about .25m shy of what I need for a full-length pair, I guess, and I didn’t want to patchwork in pieces of my other denim. This does, however, mean that I will still need another pair of full-length jeans for Self-Stitched September, because the wearability of capris in Alberta in September is dubious. Also I did laundry. Mounds and mounds of little-girl laundry.

Poser in pink.

My daughters, on the other hand (aside from passing through the house like a high-pitched whirlwind), did a lot of sewing. In particular, my oldest spent several hours sewing the younger one into a variety of costumes. Ok, perhaps sewing is a bit of a misnomer. There was a bit of lacing

Pink poser, showing back lacing.

involved, but mostly scissors. A lot of scissors. A lot of scraps that started out yesterday reasonably sized are… no longer. But, it kept them occupied and focused the destruction on reasonable targets, right? It says everything you need to know about our personalities that I started sewing for my barbies, while my oldest daughter has started sewing for a person.

This used to be a Lydia...

The pink outfit is, as you may have guessed, made from the last few remnants of the pink poplin I made the twirly dress out of. The white is the most satisfying use of a wadder I can imagine. I had been meaning to try to salvage the bodice part of my Lydia Disaster, but really—watching it shredded by a 10-year-old deconstructionist is much more satisfying.

Also, the 10-year-old was wearing one of my RTW shirts all yesterday. It’s a bit loose on her whereas it’s snug on me, but still.

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August 10, 2010 · 9:17 am

Home

So we got home late last night, and now I’m lying here with a house full of 10 days’ worth of vacation junk (plus all the stuff the kids came home with… I send them out with two suitcases and they come back with two suitcases, three backpacks, and about 6 grocery bags full of stuff (plus one big garbage bag of clothes). WTF?? I think it is time for a wardrobe prune for the little girls.) and all I want to do is SEW. Fortunately for the state of my house, I don’t quite know what I want to sew, but my fingers are definitely itching. Probably another pair of jeans would be the best start. Though the Kasia skirt Seemane suggested sounds fun. I’m just not convinced I’m actually likely to wear a pencil skirt (or if one would even look good on me) and I’m still trying to build wearables for Self-Stitched September. On the other hand, I think the new plaid I picked up would make really nice contrast pockets (although maybe not with the striped denim… maybe the sparkly denim from the girls’ jean jackets would work for that?… oh, the angst of fabric selection!). On consideration, the grey herringbone wool is too heavy for anything but a coat. It’s really heavy. Heavier than the stuff I bought for my winter coat project. What kind of a coat can you make with about 1.5m of fashion fabric? (Probably why it was at Value Village in the first place, no?) . I’d love something like this,

I love this jacket! Unfortunateley, I have no pattern like it.

but I have a feeling it’s too heavy for the sleeves to drape nicely even if they were cut on the bias. And I have nothing like a pattern for it. A short-sleeved coat would be a possibility, but I don’t really like the look (also the pointlessness) of them. I like a cropped or bolero jacket with long sleeves much better (but back to the pattern issue). Apparently I’d rather have a cold tummy than cold arms.

On the Wearability Report, I lost a rivet off my black jeans. 😦 Although this bothers me less than if I’d lost the rivet on RTW, since I can just replace it, it’s still irritating. They’ve been washed about 4 times now (5 by the end of today) and are generally holding up pretty well, though the knees are (inevitably) fading. The hubby’s white voile shirt is holding up well to its numerous washings, as it gets a lot of wear. The fabric is so thin, though, that I imagine I’ll be making a new one sooner than I think. Several of the pretty pearl snaps have popped off the girls’ jean jackets, too (all in places where the fabric was really too thick for them, though, like the cuffs). I like the heavy-duty snaps much better, at least for jackets, and they’re easier to set, too.

In other news, I foresee lots of swayback alteration practice for any fitted clothing for my older daughter. That baby got back.

Wow, that was a lot of babbling for not a lot of sewing. Ok, off to clean my house!

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